Will Uncle Sam bail out the airlines? Little support in Congress for industry assistanceBy Hampton Pearson D.C. Correspondent CNBC Updated: 3:18 p.m. ET Sept. 13, 2004What role =97 if any =97 can the fede= ral government play to help the airline industry pull out of its tailspin= ? Three years after the post-9/11 multibillion dollar bailout of the airl= ine industry, Congress is in no mood for a repeat performance. = advertisement = =93I don't think any bailout is going to come or financial assistance in = the short term from Congress,=94 said Rep. John Mica (R- Fla.), Chairman = of the House Aviation subcommittee =93The money isn't there. There's not = support for it. I know they're hit by high fuel costs, but so are all the= other industries. So, they're going to have to do some additional cuttin= g.=94 Some lawmakers are even more adamant, saying this is not the time to turn= back the clock on the 1978 decision to deregulate the airlines. Despite = skyrocketing fuel costs, some airlines are making money. Related story = Forbes.com: For airlines, it's still 9/11 = = =93We have five legacy major carriers who have lost $2 billion in the las= t year and five start-ups, five low-cost carriers who have made $1 billio= n,=94 said Mica. =93So, you can make money.=94 I don't think any bailout's going to come or financial assistance in the = short term from Congress. The money isn't there. =97 Rep. John Mica, R- Fla. Chmn., House Aviation subcommittee = = Airline consultants say like it or not, bankruptcies will force the long = overdue overhaul of industry cost structure. =93We have very high costs still and very, very low revenue,=94 said Darr= yl Jenkins, director of the George Washington University Aviation Institu= te. =93This is not long-term sustainable. And over the next five years, w= e will always have at least one or more of the major airlines in Chapter = 11. =93 But the government cannot stay on the sidelines. A second Chapter 11 bank= ruptcy for US Airways puts at risk $900 million worth of federal loan gua= rantees =97 granted in the 2002 bankruptcy. United Airlines, now operating under bankruptcy protection, wants to defa= ult on future pension obligations, which would put pressure on the govern= ment pension insurance system. The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation = is already about $11 billion dollars in the red and has asked the court t= o block the move. = =93At the end of the day, is it going to bankrupt the government? No,=94 = said Bradley Belt, executive director of the PBGC. =93But there is some r= isk that if we don't address this, that the American taxpayer is going to= be called upon to bail out the pension insurance system, and that would = be most unfortunate.=94 Meanwhile the FAA does have a five-year flight plan for helping the airli= ne industry =97 mostly through encouragement of infrastructure improvemen= ts to terminals and runways and the like. But that=92s for the long-term.= For the current financial turmoil hitting in the airlines industry, it i= s very much survival of the fittest. = Roger EWROPS